Not true! I ride the 39 ring on my roadie a large percentage of the time. I can't count the times I have met riders in the 53 ring that can't kep up while I spin a smaller gear.

I once encountered a guy on an mtb that made a comment as I rolled by, "I could keep up with you if I had big gears like your roadie"...I had to slow down for that one to show that it had nothing to do with the fact that I had bigger gears, because I wasn't using them. He was pounding his MTB 42/13 while I was spinning in my 39/14. Had nothing to do with the gear and the amount of travel with each a pedal stroke.

I agree with stapfam, MTB's are designed for offoad and roadies for road riding. Each has it's own use. I'm really surprised there aren't more reversed comparison thereads "Is a roadie just as efficient as an mtb while climbing in mud, sand, dirt and rock at 26 % inclines" That would be about as silly as these mtb efficient as roadies on the road threads.